Matisse

 Girl-child and I went to the Matisse exhibit yesterday.  It was great.

Not only was it an amazing collection, we also learned what an odalisque is.  I love new words and will do everything in my power to drop this into conversation some time soon.  Then last night I stumbled upon this article which was all about Matisse during the war years and after.

Girl-child is showing amazement here because of the awesomeness of a new app I got called Cam Me.  It's perfect for selfies.

In other news, Rose The Gypsy and I are trying to make knitting travel plans for this year.  She found this amazing list of possibilities.  If only we had unlimited funds and time!  We're waiting for cruise news from Melissa.  If that doesn't pan out, there's an article in the spring Interweave Knits that's all about yarn shops in Manhattan, which could inspire a trip to go  and check a few out.  I'm thinking we could turn it into a triathlon trip - yarn, art and a show.

Similarities and Contrasts

I went to see The Grand Budapest Hotel on Saturday. It was great.  I'm thinking I'll have to look into Stefan Zweig's writings, which apparently were inspiration for the story.

On Sunday I went to volunteer at the public library. It's pretty amazing how many people at Minneapolis Central Library would be PERFECT characters for a Wes Anderson film. I'm thinking I should write to him and suggest a large, urban public library be the background of one of his films.

In other news, it's spring.  Weird things continue to surface as the piles of snirt melt.  I like the wide disparities of what I may stumble upon on my way to and from work.

Darkness and light.

Today it snowed, tomorrow will be cold, next week it will be 50 degrees out.  I am trying to hold back the grumpiness by keeping in mind it will be warm soon.  Soon.  Soon.

A Fixer-Upper Gets Fixed

Rose the Gypsy recently saw a South Minneapolis house featured on TV - It was condemned but then someone purchased it for $1 and fixed it up.

So of course I had to go check it out:

You can read about the fixing up part here.

There are a number of lovely Victorian houses in this corner of town.  Quite a few of them have been lovingly restored.  The problem is they are too close to the freeway, and now a freeway expansion threatens the lot of them.  Info on the opposition to the expansion can be found here.

It's sad.  The neighborhood was full of stately homes, they built the freeway and destroyed the neighborhood, after which the houses fell into disrepair.  Then a bunch of people fixed up the houses.   Now the freeway is threatening them again.

~sigh~

I would also like to note that when The Girls were looking for a house one of the addresses they sent me was relatively close to the freeway and I said, "Don't look at anything that close to the freeway!"

Springy Times

All the talk of spring has sprung … it's ironic that fresh starts and renewal are the themes of spring, and yet as the last bits of snow melt all the dirt and garbage surfaces to the top and it's kind of disgusting.

I'm taking a MOOC at the moment that is entitled, "Archeology's Dirty Little Secrets."  I'm thinking of doing a project on what surfaces after the snow melts, and what it says about different parts of town…the so-called piles of snirt (that's snow + dirt) uncover all kinds of things.

I have managed to do a little knitting.  I made a pair of electric-blue bed socks for Auntie who has neuropathy in her feet pretty bad.  It makes it hard for her to tell when they're cold.

I also finished the most-boring-shawl-ever.  It's really quite nice, even if it was mind-numbingly tedious to knit (besides, with my wrist in a splint it was good to have something that was not particular about gauge and such).  The texture and color seem to be un-photographable, but trust me, it's pretty.

And there are some bits of grass showing up across the street:

With the time change last weekend the morning light was unusual as I waited for the train Monday morning.  Pretty soon it will be totally light in the morning as well as late into the evening - hooray!

Happy spring everyone!

Oscar Night

I've decided to watch the Red Carpet tonight and then turn off the T.V.  I love the Red Carpet.  In the old days Girl-child and I would watch together and critique all the dresses.  That's probably why she sent me this link.

Why will I not watch the rest of the show?  Too long.  And I haven't seen the movies.  Well, I saw one, but that's not enough to be able to cheer for or rail against winners and losers.

Faith Salie did a piece on actors cleaning up their language for thank-you speeches here.  Probably not a bad idea.  

Here are the speeches the Daily Beast thinks were the best.

And then there are the super long ones too.  Look here for info on Oscar thank-you speeches that were 11 words or less.

Anyway, hope you enjoy Oscar night, however you spend it.